Three-year-old Jonny Simoson was bitten by a tick and nearly died in the hospital. His mother found her still alive in the back.
Fifteen minutes. That was all it took to transmit a rare, dangerous and debilitating disease caused by a tick. The victim was a four-year-old boy. Gianni Simonewho fell seriously ill and ended up in hospital where by a miracle they managed to save his life.
The intuition of Jamie Simoson, the mother, prompted her to seek more medical treatment for something that the youngest son’s pediatrician initially downplayed, assuring her it was a virus that had to run its course.
The sting that changed everything happened when Jonny was swimming in a neighbor’s pool on June 15th. Out of nowhere, his mother noticed a small spot on his right shoulder blade. It was a small point smaller than the tip of a pen.
Jonny Simonson was bitten by the tick while swimming.
“It wasn’t built in. It wasn’t swollen. I pulled it out easily with a pair of tweezers and it was still alive. “Simone said. “He didn’t necessarily have marks on his back shoulder until a few days later; there was only a small red bump. It was like this”.
About two weeks later, she called Jonny’s kindergarten saying the boy wasn’t feeling well.
“He was depressed, had no appetite and the fact that he was complaining about a headache it wasn’t normal for a 3-year-old, “Simonson said. His symptoms worsened over the next two days. After a visit to the pediatrician, Johnny was sent home with some supportive medications. He woke up that night with a fever. .
Jonny Simoson spent two weeks in different hospitals after being bitten by a tick.
“We called the doctor the next morning and I told him he sleeps a lot and it’s not really like him,” Simonson said. After a second visit to the doctor, he once again told him to wait. But he didn’t do it and she took her son to the emergency room when her fever rose to over 39 degrees and showed no improvement over an antifebrile I had given her. She felt that something was wrong.
The worst was beginning. Days in the hospital turned into weeks. The elevated white blood cell count increased to 30,000. He was unusually sleepy and showed no signs of waking up after the infusions. A lumbar puncture found that he had an increase in neutrophils, a type of white blood cell that acts as the immune system’s first responder, in the umbilical cord fluid. he was looked after by Bacterial meningitis and viral until doctors ruled them out.
The doctors decided to transfer the child to another, more complex health center and spent there four days in intensive care. He had a coronary CT scan to rule out a brain hemorrhage, abscess, or mass. “Things got really scary at that point, she wasn’t talking. It was so frustrating to find an answer. we were terrified not being able to go home to our son, ”Simonson said.
Jonny Simonson, three, his mother Jamie and the rest of the family.
However, after an MRI, the neurologists they were able to diagnose meningoencephalitis, an infection of both the brain and the thin tissue surrounding it. After a night of intravenous immunoglobulinsa treatment for antibody deficient patients, there were signs of hope.
“Within 15 hours of her first dose she told me ‘mom, is that pepperoni pizza?“” the woman recalled. Actually, it was just a box of tissues but it meant Jonny was hungry. A very good sign. “So we started asking him questions to try and evaluate his cognitive abilities at this point,” said Simonson.
After nearly five full days without answering, his son was alert and talked. “It was amazing. That was the first time since the whole situation began that my husband and I completely collapsed, “she said confidently, finally knowing that her son would be home soon.
His parents had to teach him to eat and drink again, as well as to sit and speak clearly. “We knew going home was going to be tough,” Simonson said. After 12 days the child was discharged and the joy was total. “He’s very active and doesn’t understand his limitations. We were so excited to get out of the hospital but so scared of what would happen next.”
After being admitted to several hospitals for a tick bite, Jonny Simoson is now at home where he is starting a difficult rehabilitation.
“Jonny wasn’t walking yet and his balance was poor,” said Simonson. “We knew we had a lot of work to do, but we were ready for the challenge,” he added. Three days after he was discharged, doctors informed him that Johnny had tested positive Powassan virus, a rare and dangerous disease transmitted by ticks. And then the mystery was solved.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, human Powassan virus infections have been found in the United States, also in Canada and Russia, in the northeastern states and in the Great Lakes region. These cases mainly occur in late spring, early summer, and mid-fall, when ticks are most active.
there was alone 178 cases reported in the United States since 2011.
After so much anguish, Simone opened a Facebook page And now he’s urging others to prevent tick bites and defend their children. “You’re the only one who knows them and knows what’s normal for them, and if you’re not feeling well, he speaks for them,” she said.
“Don’t feel like you are questioning someone. This is your job. And we want to warn everyone about what can happen if you don’t act quickly,” he concluded.
Source: Clarin
